Corporate Advocacy Program: The best way to manage and repair your business reputation. Hiding negative complaints is only a Band-Aid. Consumers want to see how businesses take care of business. All businesses will get complaints. How those businesses take care of those complaints is what separates good businesses from bad businesses.

REVIEW UPDATE: December 30 2015: General Steel remains committed to increased customer satisfaction and has improved their business practices over the years to better serve their customers. General Steel is truly dedicated to making sure their customers are satisfied and that any complaints which do arise are addressed promptly and fairly.

To date, General Steel has made good faith efforts to resolve all complaints reported on Ripoff Report. Based on our experience, the member business has proven to be among the top members of the Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program as a Verified Safe Business™.

Over time and since becoming a member, General Steel has remained actively engaged and improving the way they address customer service complaints. As an active and current member of the Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program we are happy to report that now more than ever General Steel remains committed to improving customer satisfaction.

Remember, no company or individual can ever satisfy 100% of the people 100% of the time. There are no products or services that will always be perfect for everyone and even the best companies will receive complaints from time to time. However, by participating in the Corporate Advocacy Program, the member business has made a commitment to working with its customers to resolve complaints quickly and fairly whenever possible.

Please keep in mind that as a consumer you have some responsibilities as well. Success has many definitions that based on your past experiences, current situation and your perceived expectations. Success with any product or service is always based on the proper application and understanding. The fastest car will not run if you never turn the engine on. Look at how you used the product or service that was provided in relation with the instructions that you received. The Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program will help you get your voice heard but please be prepared with documentation and fair representation of your concern, also have an idea of how the company can fix your concern. Can they offer additional services, extend warranties, offer a fair refund or just get you talking with someone that can help. ..let them know and let us know!

*Any consumer not receiving satisfaction from a member of the Corporate Advocacy Program should email us at editor@ripoffreport.com

Ripoff Report Verified™ .. part of Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program.A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business..

Ripoff Report Verified™ REVIEW:

EDitor’s UPDATE:

Positive rating and recognition has been given to General Steel for its commitment to excellence in customer service.

Representatives from Ripoff Report recently visited with many employees at General Steel’s Corporate Headquarters in Littleton, Colorado. During the visit and discussions with the exceptional team at General Steel we at Ripoff Report witnessed an ongoing commitment to customer service by everyone at General Steel. It was clear that General Steel’s only acceptable result is 100% customer satisfaction. Limitless customer service clearly defines the corporate culture throughout General Steel and the professionals interviewed and communicated that they will go to any length in order to achieve project success with every client.

The information provided in this report is based on comments made by Jonah Goldman and Travis McCain during an on-site inspection held by a third party verification company with no biases toward General Steel.Ripoff Report Verified™ .. part of Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program. A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business..

General Steel’s target markets are in low-rise commercial buildings. They work to gain leads that come in from builders they have used in the past, TV ads, radio ads, referrals and potential consumers that search the internet. Once the company has a call or request for information, a quote is handled through their sales department or customer service department. The company explains the services they offer and try to have the customer request a quote or sample design. General Steel states that they are set apart from other competitors in the industry because of their network of installers that have honesty and integrity.

The customer’s experience when working with General Steel starts with their sales and customer service department who will have a conversation with the customer to discuss their needs for the project. Then, the company creates a design and submits it back to the customer for approval. Once the design is approved, General Steel develops a contract for the customer and contractor to proceed with the project. After the terms of the contract have been agreed upon, the project will start.

During the course of the project, General Steel works to have daily contact and handling issues as they come up and the company works closely with their subcontractors. General Steel’s standard for working with installers is that they are given 30 days to fix any problem that may arise and they are required to keep the company up to date on project progress. The installers have a separate contract with the client and if they do not follow through as promised, the client will usually withhold payment to installers. If that happens, General Steel will no longer work with that installer after the completion of the project.

In order to provide excellent customer service during the course of the project, General Steel has regular follow-ups with the installers and keeps in contact with the customer to provide updates and to ensure the customer does not have additional questions. Additionally, the company is working to improve their current systems by working with their staff to have better understanding of what needs to be communicated to clients and installers.

The most common complaint that they company receives are in regards to delays on the project. Many times, delays are a result of changes made by the customer. The company states, “Any change made will cause major delays to the project, even if the change only affects one square food.” General Steel also notes that their customer service and sales departments will try to solve issues with the customer and explain why there is a delay. If they do not accept their explanation, it is turned over to upper management to make sure the customer understands the terms and conditions of the contract.

Furthermore, the company has realized that most of the time, cost is one of the main reason for a customer not being satisfied with the level of service or products they receive. General Steel states that “Building codes are a big issue. Building the same building in different locations can make a big difference in the price and service for a particular building. For example, if the building is in an area that has a high risk for hurricanes, heavy wet snow, dry and arid, and very humid locations can cause a customer to be dissatisfied with the service or product.” The company works to explain to potential clients what they should expect, but in many cases complaints come from those that do not understand what the company has tried to communicate. If that is the case, the company feels as though there is not much that can be done to remedy the complaint and will close it out of their system.

Since General Steel has received complaints through Ripoff Report they have implemented mandatory ethics, compliance training and education programs for employees to keep up to date on new events and policy changes. The company states that they monitor all customer complaints to make sure they are doing everything possible to satisfy the customer. The company uses the Ripoff Report Consumer Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program as a sounding board for consumer inquires. Additionally, General Steel states that they have no unresolved customer complaints in the last year.

Jonah Goldman, Vice President of General Steel stated, “Our goal is to insure our customers that we are doing everything possible to solve the customer’s problems or concerns. We have a training room for regular training with videos and internet classes to show how and what the industry does to solve our customer’s concerns.”

Anyone who contacts General Steel for a pre-engineered building can expect guidance and direction unmatched in the steel building industry. We found that General Steel assigns impressive teams of experienced professionals to manage each phase of every single steel building project and these dedicated individuals will stop at nothing to make sure every new steel building project is as successful as the thousands of projects they have completed on time and on budget previously over the past two decades. General Steel also has a designated division of customer service representatives tasked with the sole responsibility of arriving at mutually satisfactory resolutions to any complaints or concerns. General Steel’s customer service division is one of a kind in the industry. General Steel listens carefully to client concerns and investigates each matter individually with its customer service review software for adherence to the company’s 100% satisfaction protocol. General Steel applies all instances to weekly continuing education seminars with its employees which focuses on customer communication, support, ethics and attention to project details. As the pioneer in the steel building industry, it is clear that General Steel is the model for customer service and has set the standard for business ethics which accompanies the superior quality steel buildings General Steel provides.

General Steel’s Vice President informed us during the interview that “the company’s corporate culture has been shaped and adjusted continuously by an undivided attention to customer needs.” He continued by expressing that “it does not matter how large or small your building is or whether you purchased your building from General Steel 10 years ago or last week, General Steel’s entire staff is at your service. And since General Steel is a debt free company our customers can rest assured that we will all be here when needed.”

The VP’s comments were clearly demonstrated throughout General Steel’s operation during Ripoff Report’s office visit. It should also be noted that the company’s undivided attention and culture of unlimited customer service to any individual who conducts business with General Steel is reflected by the company’s unprecedentedly low customer complaints track record of zero unresolved customer complaints since General Steel was established over 18 years ago.

General Steel Corporation / Statements from the owner.

”General Steel continues to be committed to educating our customers, and prospective customers, to make their building project a true success. Throughout recent decades General Steel has been the dominating force in the steel building industry, supplying our customers with the best buildings on the market and services second to none. We have carefully developed programs to help our customers in every phase of their projects from inception to completion. General Steel has teams of professionals to meet your building needs no matter how large or small.

Over the years I have seen many competitors come and go and try to imitate General Steel. Can you blame them? There is nothing wrong with striving to try to be like the industry leader. In fact, healthy competition always works out best for the customer. However, I have witness how the internet has greatly changed the dynamics in the industry. I feel an obligation to prospective buyers to speak out on this topic. I have seen and heard too many horror stories of how people just like you, fell victim to the “internet”. Now I am not suggesting that the internet itself is bad. The internet can be a wonderful tool for many things. However, there are two major pitfalls it has created in the steel building industry.
The first problem is that it makes everybody look the same! That give customers a false sense of security. When all of the websites look relatively the same you should just be able to shop for the cheapest price, right? Well the answer is a resounding NO! Why you ask? Well I will cut right to the chase; most of those websites are just that – only websites! On the other end you have nothing more than a couple of guys and a computer. When you don’t have a legitimate company with true professionals backing you up, you can only imagine the catastrophic results that can happen. My hope is that I can keep this from happening to you. You need the strength of a company you know and can trust. General Steel’s thousands of satisfied customers can attest to that.
The second problem I have seen develop is that people can post anything they want on the internet regardless of whether it is true or not. What’s worse is that websites post these disparagements without vetting them for accuracy. We have been finding that since our competitors cannot compete, our competitors will try to play dirty. They even have gone as far as pretending to be customers of General Steel and posting false complaints on the internet. Despite anything that you may find on the internet, General Steel has a complaint ratio that is unprecedentedly low in the industry. We will go to the most extreme lengths to make sure that our customers are taken care of.
We are so confident that we can service your building needs better than anyone else that we invite you to fly out and meet with our team of professionals. After you see General Steel first hand, you will not want to risk going with anyone else. If you choose a different company after meeting with us, we will pay you back for the flight. It is a guarantee that no other company would risk offering!
I know your project will be a great success with General Steel! And remember if you need to build, you need the General!

STATED IMPROVEMENTS FROM GENERAL STEEL.

”As a thriving pre-engineered steel building corporation and the clearly recognized industry leader, General Steel has not only the resources but also the experience created by thousands of successfully completed projects to evaluate, adjust and implement innovative customer service initiatives.

When dealing with other companies in the steel building industry you will find that your engineering expert, design expert, shipping expert and project coordinator are all the SAME person. In fact, it’s usually the same sales representative you spoke to in the first place. General Steel Corporation is exactly what the name implies, General Steel is a Corporation and has invested in specified divisions of experienced professionals who are assigned to each phase of your project to guarantee that the project is a success every step of the way. Each division takes pride in making sure the customer experiences 100% satisfaction and General Steel’s Customer Service division is no exception. General Steel has invested in state of the art computer software that has been developed for the management team to review each and every customer interaction in order to ensure every single customer has been taken care of completely.

Although General Steel is way ahead of the curve in regards to customer service and project success rate, the company will continue to reevaluate its service and execution of company initiatives in order to maintain General Steel’s track record of zero unresolved customer issues spanning the past 18 years and counting.

General Steel recognizes that complaints posted on Ripoff Report (whether true or not) are issues that need to be addressed, not ignored. If handled correctly, complaints can be valuable learning opportunities. With the feedback generated by Ripoff Report’s Investigation General Steel has established additional protocols for its customer service division allowing General Steel customers a more streamlined approach to problem resolution and a commitment to a great customer experience. It is clear with General Steel there are no hoops to jump through or gatekeepers, only quick mutually agreed upon resolutions.

In summary, after our investigation, which included a visit to General Steel’s Corporate Headquarters, discussions with numerous employees and top level managers as well as many of General Steel’s past and current associates, Rip-off Report is convinced that General Steel is committed to quality delivery of steel buildings and customer services resulting in total client satisfaction.

As a matter of policy, when a business becomes a member of the Corporate Advocacy Program they agree to allow Ripoff Report to contact every client who filed a complaint so they can make things right with them. In order to confirm that the complaints were resolved, Ripoff Report is copied on all responses so we can insure that the member business did right by their customer ..

General Steel Corrupt Company Lakewood Colorado

On January 04,2006, called General Steel. Talked to Kory, got information on these buildings, Paul Harvey was advertising. Got the sales pitch, that we needed to act fast to get the sale priced locked in.Faxed the deposit over of 4000.00. Kory said these buildings were user friendly. Can put up in a couple of weekends, with buddies. No welding, pre drilling, no heavy equipment needed. Easy to read blueprints.

Program Coordinator, Kent, called a week later wanting information on what we wanted in components doors, windows, pitch of roof etc. which we thought was in sale of building. When Kent faxed over information, all this was extra 17000.00. Another deposit for components of 3900.00. They wanted 5000.00 for shipment of product, that we did not know about.

Prints was supposed to be here 4 to 6 weeks. Recieved prints. Building would be 3 to 6 months before delivery. We wanted information on how these get put up. Sent us a disk. When we watched it, it showed heavy equipment being used. Observing this disk we knew we couldn't put this up as told. So we hired Erectors, 5 guys.

We had to get township approval, for building codes. Whcih we addressed this to General Steel and they said it would be okay, which we had problems.
They said the building was ready for shipment. And wanted us to sign papers to make sure everything was in check. Colors were wrong on building. They had to change the colors. Building would be shipped by May 30, 2006. Which it wasn't even a week and they changed the colors. How is that possible when building was supposed to be all done?

Dropped off building on May 30th with final prints. Rented heavy equipment to unload and for Erectors to use. Erectors started putting things together. Noticed sand in the box of nuts and bolts. That had to be cleaned. Where did these come from? (Maybe another job site?) Final blueprints were not right. We were shorted on material. Gurting, channels, no framing for windows, rod extensions (for support).

Called General Steel. No one would respond to our calls. No one would return our calls about the material. The steel Erectors walked off job. Still no calls from General Steel. Called Erectors back to see if we could work on this.

In this event we had tried to finish. Material was not lining up. Had to predrill holes for sheeting materials, because they were breaking. Tried everything. Screws still breaking. Finally gave up. What was we to do? Nothing working. No calls. Filed lawsuit.

We have contacted Attorney Generals Michigan and Colorado. General Steel in turn trying to sue us saying we did not follow the agreement to arbitrate, which we didn't sign that part of agreement.

We had to inturn to hire another attorney in Colorado to fight the case of them suing us. Our case inturn is on hold in Michigan.

We have lost 14000.00 in attorney fees as of now. Cost of building and accessories 80,000.00 plus additional cost. We have went in debt because of this company. Be careful if you get involved with this company.

Corporate Advocacy Program: The best way to manage and repair your business reputation. Hiding negative complaints is only a Band-Aid. Consumers want to see how businesses take care of business. All businesses will get complaints. How those businesses take care of those complaints is what separates good businesses from bad businesses.